Chase Bliss Audio adds digital control to analogue delay with Tonal Recall effects pedal

By Michael Astley-Brown
published

Tap tempo, presets and MIDI compatibility onboard

Chase Bliss Audio is a company built around analogue sounds with digital control, and the Tonal Recall analogue delay pedal is the latest stompbox to reap the benefits of this hybrid philosophy.

Built around a pair of reissued MN3005 bucket-brigade chips (which were integral to the tone of early Boss DM-2s and Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Mans/Men), the Tonal Recall claims to deliver a true analogue sound with tape-like saturation that gets more intense as repeats regenerate.

Six knobs control the tones - ramp/tone, mix, mod rate, time, regeneration and mod depth - while two modes offer delay times from 20ms to 275ms (one MN3005) and 40ms to 550ms (two MN3005s).

Analogue presets, MIDI compatibility, tap tempo and expression control provide the CBA touch, and a whopping 16 DIP switches on the rear of the pedal give control over ramping parameters and expression - switching is relay-based true bypass or buffered bypass.

As we've come to expect from Chase Bliss Audio, it's all damn clever stuff. The Tonal Recall is available now for $399.

Michael Astley-Brown
Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.